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This is my blog archive. My new writing lives on Substack.

Treating lack of time, overwhelm and stress in your creative work by choosing less
Creative Process Elin Lööw Creative Process Elin Lööw

Treating lack of time, overwhelm and stress in your creative work by choosing less

We all seem to want more time.

Time to create, to pursue dreams, to build our ideas.
To live, to breathe and to slow down.

We fantasize about the things we’d be able to do and create if only we had another day in the week.

We try to squeeze in more activities than our lives can hold, trying to make it work and often ending up sacrificing those precious slow moments.

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We need more slow in our creative lives
Creative Process Elin Lööw Creative Process Elin Lööw

We need more slow in our creative lives

We live in a world that is obsessed with more and faster.

When I started to create regularly in 2016, I wanted to do it all. I wanted to stuff as many different creative projects into my life as possible. Quickly finish my first novel. Learn to paint and open an Etsy shop. Post on Instagram every day. Write one blog post and one email for my Teacup Owls every week. While working a 9-5 job.

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Summer reads for the bookish creative
Elin Lööw Elin Lööw

Summer reads for the bookish creative

I love reading, always, but I especially love it in the summer. When I was a kid, summer vacation meant being at my family's summer house in the Swedish archipelago, with no TV and no internet. I vividly remember losing myself in a really good horse book series, especially in an intense scene where the protagonist was lost with her horse in a snow storm. When I looked up from my book, I was confused that it was actually summer. 

So I thought I'd take the opportunity to share some reading tips with you.

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What not to do when writing your first novel
Writing Elin Lööw Writing Elin Lööw

What not to do when writing your first novel

When I set out to write the first draft of my first novel, I did almost everything wrong. I set the demands on myself sky high while not believing in my abilities as a writer for a second, constantly throwing myself into writing blocks. 

I didn't develop my characters or my plot enough. I tried to wing it, ending up with a first draft that had to be completely rewritten.

The good things is, I've learned so much from my mistakes, and now I can share those lessons with you, so you might get a better start in your journey as a writer.

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Balancing a day job with a creative life on the side doesn't have to be stressful
Elin Lööw Elin Lööw

Balancing a day job with a creative life on the side doesn't have to be stressful

Working a full-time day job and being a spare time creative can feel like you’re trying to fight time while stress wants to be your closest friend. But it doesn't have to be like that.

It can be a happy, balanced and meaningful way to live your life.

Over the past two years, I've run this blog, photographed for my Instagram and worked on my novel, along with lots of other projects, all while having a regular office job. And today, I'd like to share the most important things I've learned about keeping stress away.

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The most important engagement is your own
Elin Lööw Elin Lööw

The most important engagement is your own

Our quest as creatives is to make things that didn't exist before. And most of us aren't satisfied with just bringing something new into the world, we try to to make those creations interesting too. Things that make people stop and look and smile (or cry).

I think we can all agree that it's not entirely easy.

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What the first two drafts of my novel taught me about writing
Writing Elin Lööw Writing Elin Lööw

What the first two drafts of my novel taught me about writing

When I started writing the first draft of my novel way too many years ago, I was writing a very different story. At its core it's the same, or at least similar, but almost everything else has changed in some way. 

This is the first book I attempt to write. I could have been frustrated by the amount of work it has taken me to get to where I am today, writing draft three, but I've learned so much from all those mistakes I've made.

This novel has been a ruthless but fantastic writing teacher. Today, I'd like to share some of what those first and second drafts taught me.

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Braving the next step of your creative journey
Elin Lööw Elin Lööw

Braving the next step of your creative journey

At its worst, January is a month that starts out with the panicky feeling that another year has passed and your creative dreams are still just that, dreams. It then continues on with too steep goals and a furious mantra of hustle. And then the months ends in burnout and a sense of hopelessness.

But at its best, January is simply a time for introspection and realigning your daily life with your long term goals. 

When we do it right, the start of a new year can allow us to see the next step in our creative journey, and to actually take it.

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